Musashii's Story: An AC4 Fic
by Raven-Musashii
Summary: The story of a Next who rises from obscurity to... well, you'll have to read and find out.
1. Chapter 1: Enter Musashii

"Well, this is just FREAKING WONDERFUL."  
Musashii hit the side boosters, sideslipping out of the way of an incoming barrage of gunfire. The Normal up ahead, Gundam-like in its appearance, tracked his progress and let loose with another barrage. The 03-AALIYAH was barely holding together under this sustained firepower- not to mention the fact that his Primal Armor wasn't engaged.  
_Remeber- you're in a civilian area._ The mission planner had brought that up to him before he launched. Musashii thought about him- a nondescript, nasal man. "I swear, if I make it out of here alive, that man is getting a fist up his left nostril." Musashii turned his mech to the right, letting his grenade launcher shred the Normal that was just firing at him. Up ahead was the target- a special helicopter that, if it were to escape, could be used against Rayleonard to a most devistating effect. "Lock, lock, gimme a lock!" Musashii let the targeting recticle drift over the helicopter. "Gotcha!" He pulled the trigger. A heavy grenade round launched out of the barrel, and, traveling at super-sonic speeds, slammed into the chopper. It blew apart spectacularly as Musashi turned and dashed for his own carrier.  
"Good work." The nasally-challenged officer came on the line. "Come back- we'll debrief you after you return." Musashii grimaced and punched the throttle, letting the mech do all the work.

------------

"REPORT!" The commanding officer, a man by the name Gehrin, slammed his fist on his desk. Musashii decided to flinch, only to appease the base leader's insufferable self-love. "Well, sir, the chopper was more heavily guarded than you had told me." Musashii phrased his words carefully. "Not only were there NO civilians, but someone had purposefully locked my PA system down under a password." He cast a searing glance to the mission planning officer, who only sniffed and looked up. Musashii returned his gaze to the officer. "That, plus the fact that the craft I was using was very lightly armored, and had little in the way of ballistics"  
Gehrin waved a hand to stop him. "I don't want excuses. What I wanted were results, which you delivered, albeit a bit pockmarked." He slid a pad across the table. "There are your earnings for today. I'll expect to see you tomorrow morning for another mission." He stood up and sighed. "See you tomorrow, Raven." Musashii saluted and walked out of the office, accompanied by the mission officer. All around him were the signs of a busy hangar, hard at work repairing some of the more powerful mechs. In comparison, his mech was pitifully underpowered.  
The mission officer turned to him on the catwalk. "Look, you. I've got half a mind to recommend your immediate conversion to a Normal, but your unusual synch ratio with your AC makes you a viable candidate to become a Next." His tone got deadly. "If you ever foul up like you did today, I'll make sure that there's an 'accident' waiting for you on a mission." With that, he stormed off. "Now what did he mean by 'foul up'? Getting hit twelve times is not 'fouling up.'" Musashii walked down the catwalk alone, passing over his mech. The office was located on the upper floors of the hangar, well above any normal officer's quarters. Musashii himself lived off-base in a small, abandoned hangar. He sighed and walked out to the ground transports, hopping a ride back home.

------

Musashii thanked the cab driver and entered his personal hangar. A bunch of tools and scrap lay about, testament to his eternal quest for better parts. Rayleonard payed him well, but the company just didn't suit his fighting style. He had (on his own time) purchased parts, very slowly, to build his own Armored Core. He had started with the core- big and blocky, with high defensive capabilities, and a strong emphasis on blocking projectile shots. From there, he had purchased the arms, legs, booster array, head, and different stabilizer sets. An old generator he had found in the back of the hangar served to run his mech, which, after painting green in a camouflage pattern, was designated RISING SUN. "Now all I need is that computer suite I ordered..." Musashii approached his mailbox. "...and by the looks of things, it's arrived." He took the package, roughly a foot long by 8 inches wide, to his workshop's bench and set it down. He hit the switch for the lights, and they blazed to life, casting illumination down onto the small human and the large robot. He carefully removed it from its package and took the delicate circuitry over to the robot. Grabbing onto one of the multiple ladders, he climbed up to the cockpit and sat down. The worn controls were comfortable to him, and he held onto one of the grips for support as he opened the access hatch below his feet. Delicately, he lowered the computer core into his mech. It fit snugly, and he closed the hatch over it and clambered out. Sliding down the ladder, Musashii heard footsteps approaching from behind. He hit the ground and turned, wiping his hands on his jeans. "Anjou!"  
Anjou was a Next pilot as well, one of the best. Her AC, ORLEANS, was famous for its close range combat abilities and it's signature energy blade, the MOONLIGHT. As for the woman herself, she was stunningly attractive, with long, wavy black hair, a nicely curved figure, and crystal-clear black eyes. She wore a black jumpsuit with the top slightly unzipped, revealing a white undershirt underneath. She had on a pair of high-heeled boots to complete the ensemble, which completely contrasted Musashii in his jeans, sneakers, green grease-splattered t-shirt, and black denim jacket. "Well, well, well... what do you have here, Mu-sa-shii?" she said, her slightly French accent adding a girlish touch to the phrase.  
"Well... it's a project of mine." Musashii looked to her, then up at the bot. "Hey, would you mind helping me for a second?"

-----

"Alright! Juice it!" Anjou stepped on the thrust pedal. The AC whined, and coughed a bit.  
"Nothing yet!" she called down.  
Musashii bent over his computer. "Hmm... diagnostics say everything's online..." He turned up to her. "Try again."  
Anjou put her foot on it again and really stepped on it. This time, the thruster revved up and the mech jumped off the ground a few feet as it fired. "Excellent! Anjou, you can come down now!" Musashii walked to the ladder as she stepped down, blushing and looking away from her descending form. She smiled at him as she hit the bottom, and looked back up at the mech.  
"It's a beast. Much heavier than my little ORLEANS, but I believe it can pack a tremendous punch with the right equipment." She looked at him, coyly. "Where are you going to get the equipment?"  
Musashii blushed and looked up. "I-I don't know yet."  
Anjou stepped towards him, still smiling. "Come on, it's me." She tilted her head and pouted. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?"  
Musashii sighed and walked around the workbench to the computer interface he was just using. He pulled up his email and twisted it around so Anjou could see.  
"Oh-ho! So THAT'S what you're doing?" Anjou read the screen. "We of GA America would love to have you with us in this competition... So you're planning to defect."  
"Sorta." Musashii stood. "I feel too... restricted here. No offense to you Originals, but you're all they promote. I'm lucky that they let my out with the 03." He sighed, then looked up at Rising Sun. "This AC is my chance at a chance, simply. GA's giving me the opportunity." He ran a hand through his brown hair. "So, I figure that I'm going to steal some weaponry from Rayleonard and head back home, to America."  
"Well then... I have several options..." Anjou pushed off the desk and looked around the rest of the hangar. "I can report you... or stop you myself with Orleans..." She turned, grinning mischeviously. "Or, I can help you get away."  
Musashii nearly choked on air. "You can't be serious! What about your career?"  
Anjou waved a hand dismissively. "Come on, me? I'm a single-digit Original. They can't get rid of me, even if they sent Berlioz after me." She looked at him. "Seriously, though. What is it that you need?"  
Musashii looked to his robot. "I'd need a radar package for the right-back, a gun for the right hand, and basic AS missles for the left shoulder. That's all."  
Anjou grinned. "Alright! Meet me in your mech at 1:45 tonight in front of the hangar. Don't be late..." She quickly pecked him on the cheek, then turned and to leave. She cast a grin over her shoulder. "It's rude to be late, you know?" With that, she strode out of the hangar.  
Musashii, blushing furiously, got to work- he had about seven hours, and he had to make sure everything was in perfect shape to keep his mech running- not to mention packing his belongings.  
_Where did I ever get such friends?_

-------

"You're la-aate." Anjou looked at him, grinning.  
"It's not my fault, it's his." Musashii cast a thumb over his shoulder at Rising Sun. "His main booster crapped out on me as I neared the complex- I had to walk in the rest of the way." The moon, rising over the complex, cast a shadow over the two of them and partially over Rising Sun. In the reflected sunlight, it's normal dark-green color scheme made it appear black.  
"Whatever. It's probably better that you walked in- that way your thruster emissions won't be picked up." Anjou turned and opened the personel door to the faculty. Even though it was late at night, the hangar was always open to its top pilots- a right Musashii hadn't earned. The two entered. Although the lights were on- and bright, at that- the place was eerily creepy.  
"I'm going to get Orleans," Anjou said. "and you're going to wait in Rising Sun outside. I'll open the hangar door, and we'll get your equipment. By that point, someone will have noticed that an unauthorized mech is stealing the goods, at which point, I swoop in and give chase." She smiled as she spoke, glowing with pre-mission excitement. "I chase you about ten, eleven miles, and then you get away." She looked up at him- he was pretty tall, and though she was one of the taller female pilots around, her height was not enough to bring the two to eye level. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? We may end up meeting as foes."  
"Well, it wouldn't change much- that's how we first met, remember?" Musashii grinned, recalling the memory. "You actually dragged me into Rayleonard as a Normal pilot."  
"Yes, and I'm glad to help kick you out. Get to your AC." She smiled, then became businesslike. "We have a mission."

--------

For all its weight, Rising Sun moved pretty well. It had taken about five minutes for the mech to get its radar and missle launcher loaded- they went first, since there were machines needed to secure the weaponry. By the time that was done, someone had alerted the base's security. Musashii had just grabbed his gun, a heavy gattling gun, when Anjou and Orleans showed up. "Lady Anjou!" The lead Normal pilot hailed her. Musashii watched the exchange detachedly on his secondary monitors. "There's a theif."  
"A theif? Here, at Rayleonard?" She sounded cold, cruel. "Stand back- he's mine." Musashii emerged from the garage and nearly had a heart attack- twelve (now designated enemy) Normals read on his radar. They all featured upgraded laser rifles, and bore heavy shields. But the real imposing figure was Orleans, itself. Black as night in the eerie moonlight, its overall evil-ness was only enhanced by the ignited laser-blade, MOONLIGHT. "Stop right there, Raven." She addressed him with the standard nickname for an AC pilot. "That's Rayleonard property you're stealing. Hand it over and you won't die."  
"You'll have to catch me, first." Musashii crossed his fingers and hit the Overboost. His Kojima Particle accelerator, deactivated due to civilians in the area, suddenly sprang to life, fueling the overcharged booster. Musashii was slammed back into his seat as his AC took off, rushing away at speeds faster than a normal AC could manage. The Normals began to maneuver in his wake, but Orleans stopped them. "Leave him to me- you see what was stolen." Anjou suited action to words and took off after Musashii's retreating form, leaving the Normals to scatter in their exhaust.

--------

"This is far enough."  
"No, keep going. It has to look like you really did your best to escape me."  
Musashii sighed. They were nearing the pickup point for his GA contact. He couldn't risk Anjou being recognized in this situation. "Look, I think this is far enough." He turned his mech around and let it settle to the ground. Anjou's image appeared in a little overlay on his main monitor as she slowed- she had opened a comm channel. To the right of her face and upper body, there was her mech, and beyond it, the moon and sky.  
"So... this is where we part." Anjou looked down. "It was fun, you know"  
"Yeah." Musashii didn't know what to say. After she had shot him down in an engagement, she rescued him, seeing potential in him. "Well... I'm off now. My ride leaves in an hour..."  
"WAIT!" Anjou maneuvered Orleans towards him. "Take this." Her blade popped off of her arm. Musashii looked at it, lying on the ground, then her.  
"You can't be serious."  
"I am."  
"But!"  
"No 'buts'." Anjou looked at him. "There are multiple copies of this blade, but this is the original. I want you to have it." Her black eyes pierced his brown ones. "It'll remind you- you have friends wherever you want to find them."  
Musashii picked the blade up, and locked it into place on his mech's left arm. Somehow, the weight of it balanced everything he was controlling. He looked up at her. "Right."  
"Oh... and one last thing." She looked down, then looked up mischeviously. "Start running." Her image winked out, and Orleans raised its rifle, the PA shield coming online.  
"Well, shit." Musashii executed the tightest turn-dash he'd ever manage, and set Rising Sun into motion. Her shots exploded the dirt around him as he raced off, heading towards a new future and a new adventure.


	2. Chapter 2: Water Gliding

Hey there, Musashii here! Sorry about no words at the start of the last chapter- getting back into the swing of things on I'm going to try to update this story at least once every two weeks or so- I just had to get this chapter out quicker because AP tests are coming up and I'm saddled with four of them. --;; Anyway, here it is- Musashii's Story, Chapter 2. And thanks to BlazetheBad who commented on the first chapter- much obliged! 

Oh yeah, one last promotional bump. Go to **acravens** (add a "www." before and a after) before May 14th. It's a comprehensive community about the Armored Core series, not just AC4 (which this fic is based off of). Sign up and have fun- that site is what got me into this! You better hurry though, because as I said, on May 14th, the site closes for good. So head over there and get to work! Oh, and enjoy the story. :D

-Chapter 2: Water Gliding -------------------------------------------

"Welcome aboard the GA heavy carrier GA Battalion. It's good to have you with us." The naval captain saluted. "Musashii, if I'm not mistaken?"

Musashii returned the salute. "Yes. Musashii Handven." He didn't like to give out his last name, but the situation called that he be fully identified. "I've brought an AC with me, if you don't mind."

The captain lowered his hand and chuckled. "Not at all. This carrier was designed to carry four ACs, their pilots, extra equipment, and a tech crew all at once, and still reach a high speed. One mech is perfectly fine."

The captain turned and headed down the side of the ship. Musashii followed, intrigued. AS they headed aft, he could look out to his left to see the ocean, to the right, the flight deck for deploying the ACs. It was very wide and scored all over with energy burns from quick takeoffs. A few choppers sat off to the side, ready for deployment at any time. "Come on- I'll take you to the hangar." The captain turned and walked further down the ship. Musashii followed, silent.

-----

"So this is where your AC will stay while we are in transit." The captain indicated Rising Sun, securely strapped into its slot in the hangar. "I've already got my crew working on repairing it- I have to say, the crew that built it did the worst job I've ever seen."

"That's because I was the only one working on it." Musashii said quietly. The captain turned to him, abashed and amazed at once.

"My apologies..."

"No need. I understand where you're coming from. The mech is falling apart, somewhat. I barely managed to buy all the parts I needed for it." Musashii cast his eyes over it. "Most of the parts were in working order, but the generator... whew, that is a piece of crap."

The captain merely nodded. "You know it's a GA America generator, yes?"

"Oh yeah." Musashii covered his surprise at the captain's knowledge. "The thing is, it took me two weeks just to get it to generate enough power to lift one arm. The previous owner wasn't to nice to it, so is my understanding, and I don't exactly know a generator like the back of my hand by which to repair it."

"Understandable. Which is why there are crews that work on these sorts of things." The captain looked to his belt as his walkie-talkie squawked. He brought it up to his ear, and began listening. Musashii couldn't make out much, but the captain apparently got the message and clipped it back to his belt. "You're wanted in my office, follow me and I'll take you there."

"Right. And thanks for taking care of my mech." Musashii cast one last glance at it as he turned to follow the captain.

"We're just doing our jobs. You do yours and we'll be all set."

----

"Welcome." A gray-haired man offered Musashii a seat in the captain's office. It was small by normal standards, but on a ship this size, it was luxury. He had enough room to fit two couches on opposite bulkheads, with a small coffee table bearing a potted plant in the center. The captain's desk, grayish metal welded to the floor, had all sorts of mementos and knicknacks lying about on it. The captain waited at the door as Musashii sat down on the offered couch.

"I'm going to return to my duties." The captain saluted. "Until we meet again, Raven." Musashii returned the salute from his seat, and the captain turned and left.

The man sat down on the opposite couch, next to a fair-skinned dark-blonde-haired woman. "Glad we could finally meet, Mr. Handven."

"Please, call me Musashii." Musashii wasn't too fond of his last name- it tied him down to one of the last places he'd rather be.

"Musashii, then. I am Colonel Winthrop of GA America's Armed Forces division." Winthrop let a smile crease his face. "What I've heard about you so far sounds promising."

"Well..." Musashii said. "I haven't had the illustrious career afforded to my... counterparts."

"Oh, we realize that. But the missions you have partaken are most impressive." He held up a manilla envelope and opened it. "20 Normal kills in four different engagements while sustaining minimal damage..." He ran his finger down to a certain point. "And fighting an enemy Next to a standstill."

"To be fair, it was a draw." Musashii recalled the event- it was when he had met Anjou. "Orleans had already been heavily damaged, and I was lucky enough to hit her right to the side of her generator- cut the cooling loop right out. She had to shut down the generator or risk an overheat. She had already disabled me and was about to take me out- I just happened to remember the laser rifle I still held."

"Yes, but the fact of the matter is, you did stop Orleans from taking out the rest of your platoon." He slid the envelope's contents back inside and sealed it up again. "Your mech is also a nice design. Power and speed- I like it."

"Thank you, sir." Musashii let his gaze drift to the blonde. She was pretty, but had an air about her that screamed "leave me alone"- perhaps she was just nervous about meeting someone new.

The colonel had apparently caught Musashii's gaze, because he beamed and stood up. "This is Major Erin Shinn. She will be your Executive Officer, battle coordinator, and strategist. She will also act as your quartermaster- anything you need, you ask her, and she asks me."

"Gotcha, sir." Musashii stood as Major Shinn rose as well. "Nice to meet you." He extended a hand.  
She looked at it for a second, then, as if snapping out of a reverie, grabbed it and shook it warmly, smiling.

"It is nice too meet you too, Musashii." Her eyes, earlier cold and distant, now seemed to radiate friendship and comraderie. "I'll head down to the hangar- I want to see your mech for myself. We'll work on the specs later." She saluted the Colonel and left the room promptly.

"Eh... wha... huh?" Musashii was at a loss for words. Winthrop smiled and shook his head.

"She suffers from a low-grade bipolar-disorder. Normally, it isn't that bad- she's usually very outgoing and cheerful. On occasion she gets a bad fit of depression, but it only lasts for a day or so. She does have medication, but she prefers not to use it." He took his hat off the table from where it had been hiding behind the plant, and placed it under his arm along with Musashii's file. "You'll find that she's a pleasure to work with, though her outgoing personality can be sometimes overbearing." The Colonel smiled as he walked to the door, Musashii behind him. "Well," he said, turning. "This is where I leave. I'm going on ahead to secure the temp berth you were assigned in the hangar for your AC- you'll remain here with the Major until the ship returns to the States. And Musashii..." Colonel Winthrop extended a hand. Musashii took it, and was surprised by his firm yet friendly grip.

"Welcome to GA America Armed Forces."

----

"So this is the rig you piloted yourself over in."

Major Erin Shinn scrutinized every rivet of the mech as she (in a very unladylike manner) climbed up and down the machine. "A hunk of junk, if you ask me."

"Now hold on, there, Major Shinn." Musashii approached her as she slid down the service ladder. "I worked hard to build this thing from scratch."

"First of all, call me Rin. I hate formality. And second, I never said it was a BAD hunk of junk, just that it currently could be the stunt double of a wreckage heap." She smiled at him, then looked up at his mech. "The Colonel told you?"

"Huh?" Then it hit him. "About your- Oh yeah! He did."

"Well?"

"Well what?" Musashii looked at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just your impression of me. I am told that I can get in people's faces veeeeery easily." She leaned towards him. Her shirt was somewhat open, possibly from her climbing escapade, and well... Musashii blushed and looked her in the eye.

"I find that you are capable of getting in anyone's face very easily, but you are very friendly and seem to enjoy what you do." Musashii let the truth fly.

"I see... you're going to be a fun one." She stood upright, satisfied.

"Right..." Musashii wiped his brow, surprised by his own sweat, and followed her over to his mech.

"I had the AS missile launcher restocked, as well as your shoulder chain-launchers." She pointed as she indicated the restocks. "And refilled your gattling gun as well."

"Thank you."

"But one thing troubles me. Why..." She moved closer to the mech and indicated the laser blade. "...do you have this? This is Orleans' MOONLIGHT."

"Well..." Musashii looked at her plainly. "It was a gift from Anjou."

"Girlfriend?" There was no jab in the question, only plain words.

"No. She's number 3, and I'm unranked. Besides, how would have that looked? 'Famous Raven Dates Former Normal Pilot'." Musashii shrugged. "We were friends, though- which is why she gave it to me."

"I understand." Rin looked up at the mech, then stumbled as the deck shook. Musashii caught her and helped her upright as the ship steadied.

"What the hell was that?" He let go of her, as she regained her balance.

"Felt like an explosion of some sort." She looked up as the red alarm lights turned on and a warning siren began to blare.

"Attention all personel." The speaker overhead blasted the captain's voice across the hangar. "We have picked up enemy submarine signals and one carrier approximately one kilometer distant. Confirmed BFF ships. Targets have begun firing vertical-launch missles and torpedoes. No Normals or Nexts sighted. All combat personell, battle stations." The voice paused, as if recieving more instructions. "Authorization granted for launch of AC Rising Sun. Primal Armor usage approved"  
Musashii and Rin eyed each other, then sprinted to his unit.

"You said they loaded the missile launcher, correct?"

"Yeah, I made sure." Rin tossed him the unit's green jumpsuit as he ducked behind a bulkhead to change.

"You gonna be okay to fight?"

"No sweat." He zipped it up, then stepped back out. The jumpsuit was colored green, camouflaged, like the mech unit itself, and had "Musashii" embroidered on the left breast pocket in gold. He had pulled on his boots over the ankle part of it, and left the topmost part slightly unzipped, revealing his white undershirt. A pair of green fingerless gloves completed the ensemble, his other clothes folded neatly in his hands.

"My, my. Anjou better watch out..." Rin said coyly, taking his clothes. "Someone might just steal you out from under her." Musashii's blush contrasted furiously with his jumpsuit, while Rin laughed her head off at his obvious embarassment.

-----

"Musashii and Rising Sun, ready for launch."

The launch deck opened up and the green mech rose up smoothly. Musashii, inside the cockpit, called up a tactical readout of the battlefield.

"Musashii, this is Rin. Can you hear me?"

Her voice crackled over the earpiece he had fastened to his right ear, and he jumped- normally, he would have used the mech's internal speakers, but he didn't want the XO's communications to get in the way of battle frequencies. "Loud and clear, Rin." Musashii thumbed his mike to life. "Now what is the Kojima radius?"

"The enemy ships are holding at a distance of one kilometer. You're going to head out, and eliminate all opposition. Don't worry about damage or ammo- we've got you covered."

"But how do I get over there? They're a kilometer away on open ocean!"

"Ah, yes. You're new to water combat. Look to your right." Musashii followed Rin's instructions. "See that red switch? That'll activate the booster capacitor." Musashii flipped it.

"Booster capacitor?"

"Yes. While Quick Boosting and regular flight use up generator power allotted to it, the capacitor is always charged. It keeps your mech above the water so you can glide around while the main reactor recharges."

"Awesome." Musashii grinned and thumbed his controls to missles. "Alright, I'm heading out. Primal Armor will come online at 200 meters from base ship."

"Roger, Musashii." Targeting data came up on one of his miniature monitors. "You have five enemy subs and one cruiser. I suggest taking the cruiser first- kill it, and the subs may scatter."

"Gotcha. I'm heading out." He hit the Overboost button and waited as it built up.

"Good hunting, Musashii."

"Thanks, Rin." The Overboost fired, and he rocketed off the deck, firing ballistically towards the enemy.

----

"Sir, we've got a high-speed projectile heading for us."

"What?" The cruiser's captain looked at the spotting officer. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that about 10 seconds ago a large thruster emission was confirmed leaving that carrier's flight deck."

"Let me see." The captain grabbed a spare pair of binoculars and eyed the disturbance a klick out. "Oh... my... God..." He dropped the binoculars.

"Sir, what's wrong?"

"That's an AC! GA has launched an Armored Core at us!"

"What?!!?"

The captain turned to his communications officer. "Order all subs- surface and prepare their guns and close-range missles." He twisted around to his gunnery officer. "All hands to battle stations- prepare the heavy cannons for fire and prep the machine guns. I want that scrap metal taken down- NOW!!!"

----

"Enemy fire ahead!"

Musashii heard Rin's comment just as his Primal Armor finished charging. He saw the flashes of light ahead, and started to throw his mech into a zigzag weave.

The first of a hailstorm of shots blasted past him. He dodged left and right, and though he avoided a vast majority of the shots, those few that did hit punched right through his PA and pinged off his mech. "Tch..." Musashii gritted his teeth and checked his tactical display.

"Sub surfacing to your left!" Musashii looked to his left viewscreen at Rin's shout. He switched off of shoulder missles and prepped Moonlight.

The sub's nose burst out of the water as a whale breaches. The maneuver brought the whole sub on top of the water- easy prey for an AC. "One down."

Rising Sun slid in front of the sub's spherical nose, Moonlight flashing as it passed. The rounded snout slid off of the sub, scorch marks scoring all around the cut from the heat of the laser blade. Water rushed into the cut, drowning the mechanical fish. Musashii wasted no time in sliding around to face the next sub- surfacing not too far away from his current location.

"Switching to missles." He tapped the thumbswitch again, and his shoulder missles whirred as they clicked into place. Another switch activated the shoulder-mounted chain missles.

"C'mon... lock..." He let the recticle slide over the sub... and it pinged red. "Firing!"

A barrage of missiles lanced outward towards the rising sub. The AS missles rose, then vectored in, while the chained-fire missles smashed head-on into the nose-up sub. Explosions ripped through the undershielded metal, chewing it to char, and sending that particular machine down to the watery depths.

"Now, let's take the cruiser." Musashii twisted the controls and the cruiser slid into sight. "Time to die, you..." His words were cut short as several missles arced out of the launch deck and flew off towards the GA carrier.  
"Shit!" He quick-turned and tracked his gattling gun on the streaks of missles, but suddenly his mech buckled under. He twisted around again, keeping the missles on a secondary monitor. The cruiser had punched into him with their heavy-duty cannons, taking a huge chunk out of his operating power. Letting the targeting recticle drift over the cruiser, he pulled the trigger for the gattling gun. A burst of bullets ripped out towards the floating battleship, stippling it with pockmarks. As it turned red for a missile lock, he pulled the trigger and simulatenously hit the boosters.

The missles launched outwards, turning to stay on their lock, as Musashii himself jetted back towards the now-retreating missles.

"Gotta... catch... up..." He looked at the trails. "I'm not gonna make it." His mind flashed to the crew- the captain- Rin...

Several pinpoints of light flashed outward from the carrier. The missiles detonated prematurely, nearly 100 meters away. Musashii hit the comm. "Who did that?"

"Someone had to pick up your slack, Musashii!" Rin's cheerful voice echoed over the comm as her image came up on the secondary monitor. She appeared to be in a cockpit of some sort.

"When did you... How did you...?" Musashii's jaw refused to function properly.

"Duh, I'm in the Armed Forces- did you think I got up here on my amazing looks?" She tossed her head at that comment, as if to throw her hair back from a high wind. "I'm a fairly decent Normal pilot, or so I'm told. Not enough synchro to pilot an AC, but enough to use a Normal to great effect." Musashii didn't say anything. Rin looked to one of her monitors, then back to him. "The cruiser has been eliminated, and remaining subs have scattered. Good work, Musashii, come on home."

----

Rising Sun settled to the deck to a round of applause from the crew. Popping the cockpit open, Musashii clambered out, drawing even more applause from the assembled shipsmen. He would have waved, but piloting always made him overheat and he didn't want to risk poisoning them all through the air. He jumped down into a sea of backslaps and congratulations.

Wading through, letting the crew do as they pleased, Musashii came upon Rin. She, too, was in a jumpsuit, but hers was a navy blue with "Major" embroidered on in white over the left breast pocket. She looked to him as he approached and smiled. "Good shooting, Raven."

"Good shooting yourself." Musashii smiled back. "Thanks for pegging those missles. If they had hit..."

"They would have done nothing at all."

Musashii's jaw dropped. "What?"

"We have a built-in anti-missle gun-cluster. Also onboard are several countermeasure deployment units, as well as a radio jammer, any of which could have been used. Besides which, this ship is layered five times thick with armor specifically designed to repel that sort of firepower." She grinned. "I had just wanted to get some target practice." Everyone around broke into good-natured laughter. Musashii couldn't help but go along.

"Well," he said as it died down. "It was still a mission accomplished. And let's hope for many more of those."

"Hear, hear." Rin raised a closed fist in the air, accompanied by everyone around. "GA America!" Musashii threw his hand up too.

Things were already looking up.

-End Chapter 2 ------------

I write waaaaaaaaay too much. Anyway, feel free to leave comments, and look forward to the next chapter- hopefully hitting the site on or around May 20th or so, provided I survive the AP's. Until next time!

-RavenMusashii-------


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